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Aircraft
This 8x10 glossy came from the estate of a Bell Helicopter engineer. It is a UH1-D. According to the inscription on the back, it is supposed to be the first UH1-D production prototype. It's stamped "File Copy" on the front and identified as an official Bell photo on the back. image courtesy of Ray Garrison via Gary Roush |
SLINGLOAD SHOT - Ch- 54 Skycrane slinging a Ch - 47. Taken Nov. 69 at Phu Loi. On the flight line for " Darkhorse" D troop 1/4 Cav. image courtesy of Woody Mashburn - Darkhorse 23, D 1/4 - C/16 |
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TRACERS - Cobra on the perimeter at Soc Trang, "Darkhorse" C troop 16 Cav. March 70. No fight just "show time" all tracers loaded for demonstration. "It looked like a water hose spraying blood". image courtesy of Woody Mashburn - Darkhorse 23, D 1/4 - C/16 |
"Strictly fun in this picture. I did this a lot when we did low level, high speed passes over the troop area coming in from the AO after getting kills. Would do a cyclic climb to almost vertical, maintain 35 lbs torque, let the airspeed almost hit zero and then kick it over with right cyclic and pedal. It'd invert and then we'd dive it back towards the troop area the same way we came in. You'd normally break at about 30-50', 150-170 knots and then enter traffic for landing. You might call it a hammerhead that would turn the belly of the Cobra up to the sky. Cobra's were very acrobatic if you knew what you were doing. Loaches would do the same thing only very quickly; we called them "tail kicker rollovers". I just don't have a picture of one but I did them almost daily during Cambodia. This shot was taken of CWO Ron Timberlake at the controls during LamSon 719" image courtesy of Lou "Rocket" Rochat |
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"The Cobra picture is indicative of what our military leaders of that time were thinking. Viet Nam was a burden on President Johnson and he wanted to win it quickly. Ergo the AH-1G. More weapons faster. This aircraft was developed from a prototype of a smaller version on an OH-13 airframe. I saw it on a tour of the Bell plant when I was in flight school in 1967. A prototype is a throw away, and this one should have been thrown away. The tail rotors were falling off this aircraft after about 300 hours of flight time. Fifteen aircraft went down before they were grounded. Only two crews survived, and I was a member of one of those two man crews. We lost our tail rotor on short final (150 feet) and completed three 360's before we landed. I was flying with a guy named David Byers. One of us rolled the throttle back to flight idle to stop the spin; however, we didn't pull pitch fast enough to prevent the hard landing. The tail rotor yoke that the tail rotor blades were attached to failed and the a/c slung a blade, The 90 degree gearbox was ripped out of the tail boom, and the drive shaft failed as you can see in the picture. The broken tail rotor is on the ground in two pieces in front of the nose. I am 60% disabled today because of this. We broke the crashworthy seats and didn't realize the trauma we sustained to our spinal columns. The Bell engineers put the tail rotor on the other side of the tail boom and added two blades to it. I switched to an OH-58." - James Thomson, B Troop 1/9 Cavalry. image courtesy of James Thomson |
Rotar blade retainer for an OH-6 "Loach" brought home as a souvenir by Jim Sheetz of C troop, 16th Cav. "Darkhorse". Sheetz was an Observer/Gunner with the "Outcast" Scout platoon image courtesy of Jim "Moon" Sheetz |
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Hiller OH 23 |
DeHavilland U-6 Beaver |
Cessna T-41-172 |
Bell TH-13 |
Bell AH-1 Cobra |
Beechcraft T-42 Baron |
This shot was taken in the rear area well removed from the rest of the base. CW2 Jeff Clink was the AC. This ship was just rearmed and was taking off to go get fuel and return to the war. After taking on 1400 lbs of JP-4, it would barely hover. This was an example of a full power takeoff with a relatively light load. Never happen after full of fuel. image courtesy of Steve Shepard C 7/17 |
Snake Front seat - C Trp 71/17 An Khe image courtesy of Steve Shepard C 7/17 |
image courtesy of Bill Hughes via Egor - 57th Med. Det. |
image courtesy of Bill Hughes viw Egor - 57th Med. Det. |
image courtesy of Bill Hughes viw Egor - 57th Med. Det. |
Click here to read about this incident image courtesy of Doug Kibbey HHT 2/17 |
I was sitting in a snake, I had just shut down, filling in the log book...... I heard this thing coming, turned and looked, no time to get out to take a pic. So, I shot it through the canopy door. image courtesy of Steve Shepard |
A cobra taking off from the re-arm point at Camp Holloway, June 1972 image courtesy of Steve Shepard |
Killer Egg" OH-6 "Loach" with M27 weapons system designed as Primary armament for the OH-6 Light Observation Helicopter. The system consisted of one M134 7.62mm Minigun mounted on the left side of the aircraft. It was also used on the OH-58. This system introduced the capability of offensive action for the Aero Scout in Vietnam, a point surrounded in controversy as some units felt the Aero Scout role should be only observation. image courtesy of Steve Shepard |
Early instructional manual for the H-34 Helicopter produced by Sikorsky as a quick reference for pilots in 1962. It covers a lot of information with various fold-out charts and data in just 84 pages. |
Crane with a CC pod at Bong Son SF Camp airstrip .......... Operation Masher 3/66 Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
I went over on the Boxer....The chinnoks would be from the 228th...the Hueys I don't know...several units were on the Boxer. Pics taken 8/65 Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
USS Boxer with 1st Cav a/c heading for RVN. This shot was taken while passing through the Suez canal Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
Does anyone know anything about this bird? I am looking for any info I can get on the military history of this UH-1H # 66-16298. She was purchased from the Sacramento (California) Sherriff's Dept. who acquired her via DRMO from an Army Reserve unit. The current owner plans to have her at the VHPA reunion this July in Vegas. Any information on unit and/or crew would be appreciated. Please contact the site manager with any info! Click here for more information about the history of this bird |
USS Boxer - Hanger Bay Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
1st Cav Mohawks on USS Boxer heading to Vietnam. Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
Original artwork produced by Hughes aircraft to Promote the OH-6 "Loach" |
Official certificate of qualification issued by Hughes Aircraft to qualified OH-6 pilots. This example has never been issued. |
Here is a photo of one of my ship's OH-6 SN# 67915 (Phan Thiet summer of '68). It carries the only known 4 shot 2.75 rocket pod from Rock Island Arsenal and the M27 mini-gun. The pilot in the photo is Carl L King, RED 6 Scout Platoon Leader in 1968. There are 3 rockets visible in the pod. The system was quite accurate. And it was a shocker, I'm sure, for the NVA when we rolled in "hot" punching off rocket's and cranking that mini at them. If you look or zoom in on the photo you can see the engine door's are open which was SOP for OH6 cool down to prevent fuel control problems similar to vapor lock in a car. Image courtesy of Carl L King via Rich Hefferman (B 7/17 CE/OBS) |
Operators Manual for the OH-23 |
Department of the Army Manual, 1964 for operation and maintenance on the Armament Subsystem used on the OH-13 & OH-23 in the early phases of the war. |
The Maintenance "Bible" for the OH-13 helicopter. Produced by the Dept. of the Army, 1964. |
Pilot's "Cockpit procedure" card for the OH-13 Image courtesy of Liz Wallace (wife of Jim Wallace-Black Widow 25/188th AHB) |
Back side of OH-13 Cockpit procedure card Image courtesy of Liz Wallace (wife of Jim Wallace-Black Widow 25/188th AHB) |
What happens when two different sets of rotor blades mesh Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
A piece of a rotor blade flew a couple hundred feet and took out this tail boom. Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
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The then new Buffalo at Pleiku's Holloway .... during it's Vietnam evaluation Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
Buffalo at Pleiku's Holloway Image courtesy of Ed Lemp |
View from "1st Class cabin" HHT flight platoon UH-1, 2/17th Cav. Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
AH-1G, tail number 17024, Camp Eagle late '71. "024 was the first air conditioned Cobra to arrive at B Troop in Camp Eagle. I had the pleasure of putting a lot of hours on the ship. It was neat to land at the POL point and have the cool white fog come out of the A/C." - Bruce L. Taylor Banshee 28 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
Cobra on test stand, Antenna Test Facility US Army Electronic Proving Grounds Ft Huachuca, Arizona (Late 1970's) Image courtesy of E.C. (Whitey) Reesee |
Business end of a 2/17th Cav AH-1G Cobra, Camp Eagle '71 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
Patch presented to those who qualified on the AH-1 Cobra Image courtesy of Steve Shepard |
Brass sign with likeness of Huey and Vietnamese inscription indicating an area of the base at Ton-Son-Nhat for helicopter maintenance |
C/16th Cobra idling while crew steps away for a quick briefing with the ground advisor. Smoke in the background is from airstrike bombing approximately 1 KM away! Taken in mid-April west of Moc Hoa in support of ARVN mech infantry unit. Image courtesy of Bob Hesselbein |
This is a H/17th Cav LOH cockpit. Note the M-79 grenade launcher used by the scout pilot to blow away vegetation for a closer look; smoke grenade by observer seat; observer M-60 resting on handrest between missions; all-important body armor "chicken plate" resting on seat Image courtesy of Bob Hesselbein, Undertaker 27 |
The Cobra stands down - Penn. National Guard - October 2001 Image courtesy of Rich Adams |
Flight line at Wolters. Looks like Ground Resonance got that one. That happened to me once when I was going to Cobra School at Hunter. Fortunately, the Cobra has a lot more power than an TH-55 , fortunately, we were empty (no ammo) and fortunately, I had an IP that jumped on the controls and pulled my ass out of the fire. I've made some less than stellar landings but never this bad. You've made a good landing if you can walk away from the aircraft. You've made a great landing if you get to reuse the aircraft. Southern Airways Mechanical Crash A night shift mechanic was running up this TH-55 (Mattel Messerschmitt) for a ground check after working on it ourside the Downing Heliport when it went to shaking itself apart after reaching about 2,700 RPM. It was determined that it had at least one low-to-flat oleo strut plus M/R blade hydralic dampers out of torque and phase. The combination of these two items caused it to go into ground resonance as seen. The mech. wasn't seriously hurt (serious laundry bill) and this helicopter was rebuilt and flown again. - Lyndell Garrett (Stagefield mechanic on Woggi and Duncan's flights) Image courtesy of Ken Haan. Top narrative courtesy of Judd Clemens. Bottom narrative courtesy of Lyndell Garrett. |
This ship belonged to the 4/77th ARA. She was on her second tour, after having been shot up by her door gunner on her first tour...he lost control of the 60 and put 8 rounds in her. Including the A/C armor plate...musta' been one pissed off pilot. This photo was taken at FSB Curahee in the A Shau Valley, in the summer of 69 during Apache Snow. Note the shoes sticking up on top of the rocket pod....snoozin' crewman. Images courtesy of Raz Reed, of G BTRY. 65th Arty ADA via Randy White. |
Update on 16161 previously posted. OH-6 67-16161 as it appeared late Sept.'71 and as it is today. The two lower pictures are the most recent & current as of this writing, May 1, 2002. This is the aircraft in which Cpt. Wilbur Latimer was KIA 71Jan19 while serving with C troop, 2/17th Cav based in Phu Bai. The top photo was taken later that year, shortly after Typhoon Agnes/Supertyphoon Bess (Sept.18-21) struck, which accounts for damage to hangar roof in background. The aircraft is seen delivering a passenger to the 2/17th flight line at Camp Eagle...I can't ID the pilot, but believe the passenger may be Malcolm Lathers. Currently owned by Ronn Walker & Tropical Helicopter based at Leesburg Reg. Airport-Leesburg, FL. (see www.tropicalhelicopter.com) who shared the lower photos with me for the purpose of this posting. Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
Looks like a 4/77 ARA ship. Definitely not a 2/17 ship....too many rocket pods. That's the quad 50 crew at Currahee in front Image courtesy of Raz Reed via Randy White |
Left to right: Two A Troop 2/17 ships with red tail bands, one Huey and a Cobra. Then a C Troop Cobra with the blue tail band, another Cobra from D Co. 158th Aviation Company "Redskins" with yellow dot, and two other ships I can't I.D. Taken on FSB Currahee in 69. Image courtesy of Raz Reed via Randy White |
The "Lucky Eagle" - This Huey belonged to the CG of the 101st in early 69, taken on FSB Tomahawk Image courtesy of Gary Linderer via Randy White
"I took a couple shots of it at LZ Sally in late 1968.Note the padded seats and C and C radio console." - Curt Knapp
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A downed L-19, tail number 0-6418 and from the Prancing Horse on the tail, probably was some sort of FAC in support of 11th ACR operations. Taken either in Hau Nghia or Tay Ninh province...maybe the pilot can clear this up. Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
HHT 2/17 Cav Huey on short final, FSB Rendezvous, Oct 1970. The A Shau Valley in the background. Image courtesy of Randy White |
Image courtesy of Raz Reed - digitaly enhanced by Randy White |
Image courtesy of Raz Reed - digitaly enhanced by Randy White |
CH-54A 18430 from the 478th AC [HHC], taken on FSB Currahee 1969. Click here to read more about this aircraft Image courtesy of Raz Reed |
While down in Da Nang I took a series of photos of an AC-119G gun ship. Here's one of them. Image courtesy of Randy White |
Looks like the sick Hook in the center on the ground before pick up Image courtesy of Jim Newman via Randy White |
Image courtesy of Jim Newman via Randy White |
Big and bigger. Probably taken at Phu Bia. The hook has a drouge chute deployed for stability. Image courtesy of Jim Newman via Randy White |
Talking about cranes in trouble. This one had just dropped its load at Currahee and it was obvious that they were losing power from the way the aircraft was acting. They made it off the FB and had to land Image courtesy of Raz Reed |
Click here to see page 1 Click here to see page 2 Click here to see page 3 Interesting period story on the function of the "Pink Team" concept Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
80 knots at 95% over Quang Tri province, 1971. Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
Chinook pick up in the Delta Image courtesy of Lowell L. Eneix |
A crane picking up a Chinook at Vung Tau. I know it was after Tet of 68. From the maintenance area across the runway from the tower. "These shots are of "Hillclimber 033" being delivered to Vung Tau by a CH-54. 033 was the bird that got its blades into a tree while emplacing a bridge section over a canal down in the delta." - Frank White Image courtesy of Lowell L. Eneix with info from Rodney Brown |
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An OH-58A. Probably the first one in Nam with the 101st. Image courtesy of Carl Trapp via Randy White |
Cobra in maintenance Image courtesy of Carl Trapp |
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Big Gun, 20 mm Image courtesy of Jim Newman |
Up close & personal. The business end of the Big Gun, 20 mm. Image courtesy of Jim Newman |
Lights, camera, Rock & Roll. "Firefly" set up. Image courtesy of Jim Newman Condor 6 |
Is that crooked? Image courtesy of Jim Newman Condor 6 |
OH-58 Image courtesy of Jim Newman Condor 6 |
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Lift off from Bien Hoa Army Base, HQ of 3BDE. 1st Cav Image courtesy of Randy White |
A 2/17 Cobra, Saber 20. The engine from the starboard side Image courtesy of Paul Morgucz via Randy White |
Lettin' it all hang out. The call sign Saber 20 would probably indicate that this is a HHT ship, which would mean a black tail band. You can see that the tail rotor is removed in this shot. Image courtesy of Paul Morgucz via Randy White |
A look at the back seat of the Saber 20 Cobra. Image courtesy of Paul Morgucz via Randy White |
Here's the last one in the series of close ups of a Cobra from 2/17 Cav Image courtesy of Paul Morgucz via Randy White |
Yet another view of Front Seat of AH-1G, this one belonging to A trp., 2/17th Air Cav. Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
C123 at Soc Trang Image courtesy of Forrest L. Webb |
Somewhere in the Delta. 67-68 era. Image courtesy of Lowell L. Eneix |
HHT, 2/17th Cav Flight Platoon UH-1, Camp Eagle '71 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
B Trp.(Banshees) 2/17th Cav AH-1G, Camp Eagle '71 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
B Trp.(Banshees) 2/17th Cav AH-1G at Camp Eagle, service to aircraft & hangar roof owing to Typhoon Agnes, Sept.'71 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
C130 at Phu Bai terminal in '71. Forgot who this is, but at least one was wearing stars. I boarded C-130's twice at this terminal. The first time was in January 1970 to fly to Saigon and then by chopper to Vung Tau. The last time was the best, when I DEROS'd in November 1970. I can hardly remember getting on the planes there either time. I know I often saw them come and go as I was working on the flight line and wondering to myself, "well there goes some lucky folks going back to the world!" - Emil J. Hirsch, C Troop, 2/17 Cavalry, 507th TC detachment LZ Sally & Phu Bai 1969 - 1970 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
Two shots from Phu Bai North in '71, a CH-54 & UH-1 on the hot refueling pad, and CH-47's near the same area. I've seen a shot of the Chinooks taken at dusk from this same angle on one of the member sites, but can't remember which one...recognize this? Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
ARA support, judging by the 4 'sow pods' on this AH-1G. Thua Thien province, '71 Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
Early issue "Pilot's Indoctranation Manual" for the HU-1B |
Chinook & Huey Image courtesy of Raz Reed |
Aircraft Checklist for UH-1D/H model aircraft. Image courtesy of Dave Hendrix, C-16 Cavalry |
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Checklist for the AH-1G "Cobra" Image courtesy of Dave Hendrix, C-16 Cavalry |
Flying Guppy Image courtesy of Robert Geiger |
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Condor Scout Aircraft at Phu Bai - Inside the AH 6A -Not much to look at here. I flew with CPT. Dick Brown Scout Plat. Cmdr. the first two weeks I commanded C Troop and this, tree limbs, red smoke, tracers and dinks is all I had to look at. The bubble was in the middle as it passed through ONLY. Image courtesy of Jim Newman - Condor 6 |
Kingbee...Da Nang?? "That King Bee CH34 was absolutely the hardest thing I ever tried to taxi. After I recovered from first tour Gun shot wounds that is the animal the Flight Surgeon and IP decided I should be checked in to return to flight status. What a day with the pedals." - Jim Neuman, Condor 6 C 2/17 Image courtesy of Fred Behrens via Randy White |
Image courtesy of John Jones |
A Flying Crane lifting a bulldozer off the "Engineer" Pad at Camp Eagle... Date would be in early May 1969.. Image courtesy of Bill Russell B/2/17th Air Cav, 101st Abn Div 1969, 334th Atk Hel Co, 1st Avn Bde 1970 |
Helicopter 66-00970, Huey UH-1D/H, was procured by the U.S. Army in Nov. 1966. 970 arrived in South Vietnam in Febuary of 1967 and was assigned to the 128th Assault Helicopter Company. 970 is now in the possesion of Chapter 243 of the Vietnam Veterans of America in Lee's Summit, Missouri. She is trailered to a variety of events yearly in an effort to educate the public and create awareness of the history of the conflict in S.E. Asia and it's veterans. Chapter 243 can be reached for comments and input at janstapleton3@aol.com Image courtesy of Jan Stapleton |
Battle damaged loach, C 2/17 'Condors' Image courtesy of Rick Schwab, Condor 47 |
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A a B-52 that was damaged over North Vietnam in Dec 72. It landed at Da Nang for repairs. Needless to say, the VC tried hard to get it. We were hit every night until it left. Image courtesy of Rich Neely, D Trp, 17th Cav |
Bell Helicopter Products Catalog |
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1:16 scale models in correct materials (note wood handled pioneer tools & plastic water jerrycan) for a Gov't radar research contractor...an AH-1S & M113 ACAV (in one of many possible configurations). CNC machined to exacting specs to use as scale targets in radar research. Before deciding you just gotta' own one, know this...the cost is from $10,000-$50,000 depending on the complexity!" -posted with permission, via Doug Kibbey Image courtesy of Doug Kibbey |
A nice clean shot of a C-130 on the ramp at Phu Bai, shortly after a rain. A Fred Behrens photo Image courtesy of Randy White |
OH-6 Flight Test Program jacket patch |
C. Co., 227th Firefly Light ship. Note mini gun mount and sight unit Image courtesy of Bill Blackburn via Joe Stone |
The 7/17th Air Cav helicopters went to Vietnam aboard a "baby carrier", the USNS Breton. Some of them were stored on the flight deck covered with a plastic material for protection from the weather. I was fortunate to be picked as one of three maintenance officers to go with the aircraft on the carrier. "A pleasure cruise to Southeast Asia" is the best way to describe this trip. Image courtesy of Bill C Walton, Former Maintenance Officer, B Troop, 7/17th Air Cav |
An Khe Army Airfield, July 1966. On a much improved Tarmac landing strip, Mohawk Airiel Recon Aircraft, line up besides a small motor pool. In the background, a Chinook Helicoptor ( probably from the 228th ASHB ) sling loads in a conex container. Image courtesy of Joe White, via John Jones |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
Image courtesy of Jan Null |
This Caribou landed at a special forces camp dirt strip south west of Phu Loi, the 128th A.H.C.used the strip for staging a lot Image courtesy of Chip Decker |
The Caribou hit a bouncing betty mine on the runway with the left main gear on takeoff, along with the damage you can see there was a hole in the tip of the verticle fin as big as you head. Nobody on board was hurt. Image courtesy of Chip Decker |
Engine Wash: An important part of the preventive maintenance program on the OH6A aircraft was a weekly internal engine wash with hot, soapy water. While someone cranked the engine the soapy water was poured slowly into the engine intake, resulting in cleaning out some of the Pleiku dust and heliport penta-prime. The end result was bubbles out the exhaust pipe and better engine performance. It was quite a procedure to get the hot water, but my jeep driver Herman DeAtley knew where to get it.Since we had 10 OH6s we tried to do one or two a day, every day. We used Tide washing powder and I decided to send Tide a letter and picture with the cutline" Dirt can't hide from intensified Tide, even in Vietnam" I thought maybe the manufacturer would send us a case or two of this product, but all we got was a "Thank you for Using Tide" letter. Image courtesy of Bill C. Walton |
This Huey was equipped with the DECCA navigation system. I think the Tomahawks had three in the Unit at the time I was there. Very few pilots knew how to operate the system. It had a paper rotating map mounted on the instrument panel glare shield and triangulated three radio beams for navigation. Image courtesy of Chip Decker |
USARV issue Checklist for the UH-1B model "Huey". |
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This YO-3A had mechanical failure and did a belly landing on a road near LTN. No injuries. Thank goodness for helicopters. Image courtesy of Kurt Olney, YO-3A Crewchief RVN 70-71 |
Where ever the CH-54 Sky Crane went it drew crowds because of it's size and lifting capability. Today, the civilian version, the CH-64, is used to fight fires with large water / foam tanks and other heavy lift operations. Image courtesy of George Quackenbush |
The C130 was the life line for Soc Trang, transporting ammunition, fuel, food, spare parts. During TET offensive of 1968, the C130 "bladder Birds" were our only sourse for fuel when mortor or rocket set fire to our POL storage facility. The first day of that offensive, the transport helicopters were evacuated to a more secure location and the Gun Platoons stayed to defend the airfield. At one time, Soc Trang was left with the rockets in the tubes and the fuel in the gunship's tanks when the Airforce sent several F-4's for a little payback. The F-4's used the runway as approach to target, releasing the bombs over the runway to impact several hundred feet from the threshold. Everyone climbed on something to get better view while shouting "Happy New Year, you &%$#*! Image courtesy of George Quackenbush |
cobra manual Image courtesy of Charlie Eaves |
Bien Hoa AH1 Image courtesy of Pat Rundle via Doug Kibbey |
Bien Hoa OH6 Image courtesy of Pat Rundle via Doug Kibbey |
A Flock of CH 46's at LZ Vandergriff, Spring of 1969, at this time a H Model could out lift the underpowerd Sea Knight. Image courtesy of Ray Knight |
TH-55 Flight Manual Image courtesy of John Sarviss |
OH-58A operator's manual Image courtesy of Blackburn |
Mohawk at night taken through starlight scope, Marble Mountain Army Airfield. Image courtesy of Don Hauschild |
Image courtesy of Earl Williams 121st AHC C/O Milton Lowden |
The Cobra attack gunship featured a crew of two pilots. The Aircraft Commander normally flew from the back seat position which allowed the most accurate use of the weapons located on the stub wings. These weapons varied from 2.75" FFAR (folding fin aerial rockets), 7.62mm Mini-gun pods or a 20mm cannon. The Co-pilot gunner flew from the front seat and operated the nose mounted turret weapons which were usually mini-guns and 40mm grenade launchers. There was also a smoke grenade launcher that was in the belly of the aircraft from which which the pilot could release a smoke grenade to mark something on the ground. It was seldom used because we usually responded to smoke from soldiers on the ground who could mark their own positions. It was common to become the backseat aircraft commander after 6 months of operational experience. Image courtesy of George Caldwell 235th A.H.C. |
Front Seat copilot station with turret control device, armored seat, necessary flight instruments and stubby flight controls - Cyclic and collective. The controls were mechanically linked to the back seat controls and required more force to move due to the better leverage from the back seat controls that were longer. Backseat instruments and switches were more extensive to select and tune radios swell as to arm the weapons. Front windshield used engine bleed air when necessary to repel rain during flight for better forward visibility. Image courtesy of George Caldwell, 235th A.H.C. |
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A typical rocket load would be 52 rockets with HE or VT fused warheads. High Explosive would explode on contact with a target and Variable Time would explode before contact as an antipersonnel weapon. Four of the 19 round pods could be installed in a "Hog" configuration. Image courtesy of George Caldwell, 235th A.H.C. |
This 20mm cannon was installed on a few ships in our unit. It was always on the left side inboard wing station and always had the distinctive beefed up fuselage side fairings and external ammo chute. Image courtesy of George Caldwell, 235th A.H.C. |
20mm cannon barrel Image courtesy of George Caldwell, 235th A.H.C. |
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